Student Writing Competition

This competition was for accounting and business majors attending Pennsylvania colleges and universities, as well as Pennsylvania residents who attend college out of state, and was designed to encourage students to research and write about issues affecting the business environment. The 2017 competition was the final contest. Thank you to all schools and students who supported the competition throughout the years. Watch for new initiatives to benefit accounting students via the Pennsylvania CPA Foundation.

Prizes & Benefits*

1st Place

$3,000

2nd Place

$1,800

3rd Place

$1,200

All participants who have not graduated by award time will be offered a one-year, complimentary PICPA Student Affiliate membership.

2017 Topic

Should the Engagement Partner Be Named in an Audit Report?

Audits play an important role in capital markets by providing reasonable assurance to users that financial statements are presented fairly in all material respects. However, investors typically do not have access to detailed information about the audit quality of a particular engagement. Instead, financial statement users must rely on the reputation of the audit firm responsible for issuing the report. Despite firmwide quality controls, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) has noted that the quality of individual audit engagements can vary within a firm.

The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) recently approved the PCAOB’s rules requiring disclosure of the engagement partner for audits of public companies. The primary purpose of the new rules is to improve transparency by providing investors and other financial statement users with the name of the specific audit partner in charge of the engagement instead of solely the name of the audit firm. Do you think the engagement partner should be named in an audit report? Do you think this will have any effect on audit quality?

The PICPA will award $6,000 to ambitious, business-savvy students with the conviction to present his or her opinion in the 2017 Student Writing Competition.

Eligible Participants

Graduate or undergraduate accounting or business majors who attend Pennsylvania colleges and universities are eligible, as are those who maintain a permanent residence in Pennsylvania but attend an out-of-state college. Licensed CPAs are not eligible.

Prize Details

*Prize winnings of $600 or more are considered taxable income by the IRS. The PICPA will issue qualifying winners a Form 1099-MISC at the end of the calendar year.